Pages 159 - 173 Summary

Ellen goes into town to run some errands and bumps into Mrs. Duane at the bookstore. When Mrs. Duane starts to say that she's been meaning to stop by for a visit, Ellen's anger boils over. No one has come to visit her mother since before Christmas, as though cancer is contagious, and she has had enough. Kate is lonely and losing her will to live. Ellen shouts all of this at Mrs. Duane and then leaves without paying for her packages. The next day, Mrs. Duane phones and asks if it would be alright if she came over for lunch. Ellen fixes chicken salad sandwiches while Kate and Mrs. Duane gossip. Mrs. Duane never meets Ellen's eye.

Days later, Ellen hears her mother crying from the bathroom. She rushes upstairs and finds that her mother cannot get out of the...